Central Japan Railway Co.’s ongoing project to build a maglev train system linking Tokyo and Osaka is finally in full swing. Early this month, JR Tokai released a list of probable locations for intermediate stations in four prefectures ― Aichi excluded ― through which its envisaged magnetically levitated train would run on the Tokyo-Nagoya section of its route. The proposed sites include one on ...

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial regulator said Friday it has issued an institutional caution as well as a 54.5 million won (US$50,332) fine on Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) for breaching regulations on loan and personal information. "An institutional caution and fine were imposed on the bank, with reprimands made against employees that broke current rules," the Financial Supervis...

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul man was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for exploding homemade bombs at crowded public transportation stations in May in a plot he designed to cause a plunge in the stock market. The Seoul Central District Court handed down the jail term to the 43-year-old man surnamed Kim who was accused of setting off two explosives at the main bus terminal in sou...

Teenagers who spend time on internet social networking sites are more likely to engage in risky behavior such as smoking, drinking and using drugs. Researchers from Colombia revealed that teenagers who frequently use SNS sites are three times likelier to consume alcohol and twice as likely to use marijuana compared to teenagers who don’t. 40 percent of the students who participated in the surve...

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- Embattled Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced his resignation Friday, saying he would take responsibility for his failed attempt to block the free lunch program in a referendum earlier this week. The decision came two days after the vote on the opposition-led free lunch program was nullified due to a low turnout. The second-term mayor had promised to quit if he failed to ...

PARIS, Aug 26, 2011 (AFP) - One in every two American adults will be obese by 2030, adding hugely to the country's health costs, according to studies published on Friday that highlight the growing burden of the world's obesitypandemic. On present trends, 50-51 percent of American men and 45-52 percent of American women will by 2030 have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, adding as many as ...

PDT Redondo Beach, Calif. (AP) --Police in Redondo Beach say a 95-year-old man is doing well after being stung more than 400 times by a swarm of bees. Sgt. Phil Keenan said the man was walking near his home Wednesday afternoon when the bees attacked him. He said the bees were probably agitated by a fumigator who was trying to exterminate a hive in an apartment roof. The elderly man was taken to...

HELSINKI (AP) _ Nokia on Thursday unveiled its two cheapest cellphones to date aimed at attracting users in the low end market as it fights increasing competition from Asian manufacturers. The Nokia 100 and 101 _ priced $30 ((euro) 20) and $35 ((euro) 25) respectively _ will be available in the third and fourth quarters of the year. The launch comes a day after Nokia announced three new mass-ma...

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- A local court ruled on Thursday that a K-pop song should not be labeled by censors as "harmful to juveniles" just because it contains alcohol-related lyrics. The court ordered the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to cancel its classification of a song as harmful material, ruling partly in favor of the complainant. The ruling is expected to affect the ministry's ...

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- The train carrying the North Korean leader was spotted at a Chinese railway station Thursday, an indication that Kim Jong-il plans to return from his trip to Russia via China. Sources said that the special train was seen stopping at the Manzhouli Railway Station in Inner Mongolia at around 6:14 p.m. before it headed east again. During the short stop, there were sever...

DAEGU, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean official Park Jung-ki was reelected to his sixth term as an executive committee member on the international athletics governing body on Thursday. Park earned 116 of 188 possible votes in the election during the congress of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) here, the host of the upcoming World Championships in Athletics. The 27-...

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- Shinhan Financial Group Co. said Thursday that it will set up a special management board next month to improve openness and transparency at South Korea's No. 3 banking group. The financial group said the board will be made up of CEOs from its six major affiliates such as Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Card, Shinhan BNP Paribas AMC and Shinhan Life Insurance. These companies mus...